Three roofs, five air conditioners and one hundred palm trees. This has been my mantra for years, my reason for wanting to sell this house and downsize. We’ve been here 21 years and about a month ago, we sold our house. Finally.

People think I am crazy. People think I’ve lost my mind and that I’m completely deluded. I spoke to a realtor and told him I sold my house only to stay in Miami and pay top dollar (and top taxes and insurance) for a new house here. He told me the only reason people are moving these days are the three D’s- Death, divorce and departure. Death is hopefully far away, divorce is not on the table and departure? With my Mom, sisters, daughter, stepdaughter and grandchildren (3 of 6) here, I’m not leaving Miami any time in the near future.

I really didn’t want to put my house on the market, so we sold it “off market.” I think we sold it for too little money, but the idea of fixing everything up (cleaning the garage!), having strangers traipse through my house and critic (and possibly pilfer) and then, the inspection period and all that nonsense. I just didn’t have the emotional wherewithal to do it. I’ve been getting the house ready for almost a year, cleansing, cleaning, purging.

It’s impossible to say why I wanted to move (and it’s been bittersweet) but, besides the fact that the house is too big, I just felt stuck and unhappy. On what price do you put happiness? I feel this quote from Eckhart Tolle sums it up best: “Any action is often better than no action, especially if you have been stuck in an unhappy situation for a long time. If it is a mistake, at least you learn something, in which case it’s no longer a mistake. If you remain stuck, you learn nothing.”

My husband does not want to move, likes our house, the neighborhood, the location. He is still working and this house is convenient for him to drive to the Gables and to Riviera Country Club- his home away from home. Most of the houses we’ve been looking at are further down south and he will be stuck in traffic to and from work. This fact- the fact he doesn’t want to move- has made this whole process harder.

I haven’t posted since February! Some of it was because of trying to get the house ready to move, but a big part of it is because I’ve been the Villager President since last May. My year as President is almost over! Thank the Lord. I’ve loved it, but it’s been a lot. And I have missed writing, traveling and my grandchildren.

So there are a lot of changes for me on the horizon. My daughter A.J. moved out about a month ago with Wyatt and Phoenix to Coconut Grove, so the home is quiet and kind of sad. Our condo in the Keys had a flood from a broken toilet, so we are totally redoing that. To everything change, change, change. Lots of changes.

As a reward for all my hard work as Villager President, I planned a trip to Greece with my husband, sister Kelley and her husband John. We leave in June. I’m sure I will be posting about Greek food in a future Foodie in Miami. But, until then, I feel a huge weight has been lifted. I’m ready to move on.

The photo for this blog is artwork from Maite Nobo, a fellow Lourdes girl. I attended an event for her at jeweler Jaqueline Pinto’s store and, at the entrance, there was butcher block paper, where they instructed you to write (with a Sharpie) how you were disrupting something in your life. After writing it, they handed you a scissor to slash it. I wrote “Sold my house- moving on!” and slashed it. It was cathartic. Since I didn’t get a picture of that, here’s a photo of some of her art, titled Big. I feel this move is big and there are big things ahead for me.

Up Next: Who knows?